


Get To Me

by Kita_the_Spaz



Category: Naruto
Genre: Community: kakairu_fest, Inspired by Music, KakaIru Month 2015, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 21:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4073731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kita_the_Spaz/pseuds/Kita_the_Spaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the life of him Iruka couldn’t figure out why they trotted out this same, tired old argument every time a mission brought them together. It was beginning to get to him.</p><p>Written for the Month of KakaIru, Day Four. Inspired by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zg1la-knAg">this</a> song.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Get To Me

Iruka was gasping, desperate for air to fill his aching lungs, but he dare not stop; could not risk faltering, even for one moment. He was close, his mental compass pointing him unerringly in the direction of home. If he could just make it inside the borders, he could find a round dozen places to go to ground. They’d never find him, and with any kind of luck they’d run into one of the ANBU patrols.

 _Hang on, hang on, hang on,_ he chanted in his head, not even having the breath to spare for reassurances.

Besides, Iruka rather doubted the motionless weight on his back could hear anything at the moment, no matter how heartfelt the sentiment.

There was warmth soaking through his flak vest and to judge by the tacky, damp feeling, it wasn’t body heat.

With relief, Iruka spotted a sight he knew well. On the trees ahead were thread-thin vines, heavy with tiny red-gold flowers called Firedrops. Native to Fire Country alone, they had been seeded along all the borders, a welcome home for weary shinobi headed home from a long mission and a warning to interlopers that they were in a place they did not belong.

The sight of those tiny little blooms of sunlight gave Iruka a second wind and he picked up his pace. They couldn’t be far from the border patrol stations now. He just had to get to someplace where he would be able to make a stand until the help he had called for arrived.

Iruka knew where he was going now. He wasn’t far from a bolt-hole he’d used before. The forest giant ahead looked no different from any of the other trees around, save for the patch of mossy growth clinging to the roots on the east side of the tree.

Gasping, and praying he had enough chakra for this, Iruka brought his hands together in the seals for a teleportation jutsu.

For an instant of absolute darkness, he thought he’d failed. Then Iruka’s knees slammed into the wooden floor of the small room hidden in the heart of the tree and he sprawled forward gracelessly, not even having the strength left to catch himself.

Drawing in deep, painful breaths— it felt like he’d definitely broken some ribs in that last skirmish— Iruka allowed himself a few heartbeats to feel safe, knowing that the chakra wards around the tree would have activated the instant someone who knew the correct sequence had teleported inside.

Levering himself up, Iruka ignored the ache that had settled in every joint, a warning that he’d used way too much of his own energy, and turned his attention to unstrapping the unconscious body he’d been carrying for nearly two days.

Above the mask, Kakashi’s skin was pale as milk, faint shadows under his closed eye the only color. He’d bled through the bandages Iruka had wrapped hastily around his abdomen and his rapid, gasping breaths were alarmingly ragged. 

Cursing the weariness that made his fingers tremble, Iruka unwrapped the blood-soaked linen, and winced at the wound he uncovered. He’d only seen it when it had first been inflicted, in the pale light of twilight, and had no time to do more than improvise a hasty pressure-bandage.

Pawing through the first aid kit in his pack, Iruka struggled to steady his hands. He’d have to suture the wound shut and hope Kakashi hadn’t lost more blood than he could afford to. Fortunately, concentration and a chakra booster from his pack stilled his hands enough to close the wound with a row of neat stitches.

He poured water from his canteen into a battered cup and dissolved an iron supplement tablet and a painkiller into it. It might taste awful, but it was the easiest way to get things into Kakashi without risking him choking on pills. Iruka coaxed the liquid down Kakashi’s throat in careful increments.

When the last of the bitter liquid had gone into Kakashi, Iruka took a painkiller himself, washing it down with a quick swallow from the canteen.

Painfully hauling himself to his feet, he checked the wards, relieved to see that they were undisturbed. With luck the activation of the wards would lead the back-up he’d summoned right to them and he could get Kakashi to a real medic for treatment.

There was a futon stored in a scroll somewhere in here, if Iruka remembered correctly. Pushing his tired, aching body one more time, Iruka searched the cubbies around the small room until he found the storage scrolls. The kanji for emergency rations was on the first one he grabbed, so Iruka tucked that in his pouch and continued the search until he found the right one. He opened it and let the bedding tumble out onto the floor.

He straightened it out quickly and hauled Kakashi’s limp body on it.

Frowning, Iruka paused and touched Kakashi's bare arm with one hand. His skin was cold and minute tremors rippled against Iruka’s fingertips.

Cursing, Iruka scrabbled for his own bedroll and piled it on top of Kakashi’s lax form. Kakashi had lost too much blood. Not enough to go into full hypovolemic shock, but his body was trying to keep his core stable, withdrawing most his remaining blood volume from his extremities.

Climbing into the cold blankets with Kakashi, Iruka muttered a quick prayer for help to reach them fast.

The feel of Kakashi so cold and still against him, woke all sorts of unpleasant memories. They’d argued before the mission, Kakashi certain that Iruka would get hurt. And he had, but not as severely as Kakashi. He’d taken the blow that had surely broken some ribs to protect Kakashi’s stupid, reckless ass, after the idiot had already gotten himself wounded.

They’d had the argument before; it was the reason they’d so seldom taken missions together. Sometimes Iruka had to wonder just what was going on inside Kakashi’s head. It got to him sometimes, how little he knew about the man he loved.

Kakashi was a very private individual, and even after they’d become lovers, seldom shared anything of his thoughts with Iruka. They ate together, slept together, trained together, but for the life of him Iruka couldn’t figure out why they trotted out this same, tired old argument every time a mission brought them together.

Kakashi shivered against him and Iruka drew him closer, praying for the millionth time that backup was close.

“Iruka...”

Kakashi’s voice was hardly a whisper, but it seemed as loud as a shout after the silence of two days of unconsciousness.

Not bothering to hide his relief, Iruka smiled down into Kakashi’s dark eye. “Hello there. ‘Bout time you woke up.”

“Where?” Kakashi’s voice was a rasp.

Iruka grabbed the canteen and coaxed him to drink. “Safe enough. We’re in one of the bolt-holes on our side of the border. With luck, the bastard that's been trying to kill us turned back at the border. With a little more luck, the back-up I called for should be on the way..”

Kakashi grunted and winced. “Can’t count on luck.”

Iruka bit his lip to keep a scathing retort behind his teeth. He took a deep breath before replying. “At the moment, luck is all we have going for us. I’m out of chakra and strength. And you’ve lost enough blood that if help doesn’t come soon enough, you’ll die, you idiot.”

“Better me than you.” Kakashi’s voice was soft, slurring a little at the end.

Iruka gaped at him. “Don’t you say that!”

Kakashi’s head tilted sideways and it was clear he was losing the battle to stay awake. “Don’t want to see you hurt,” he mumbled. “Hurts me when you’re hurt.” His breath sighed out and he was gone back into the depths of unconsciousness.

Iruka stared down into that slack face, feeling like he’d just been hit in the back of the head with a club.

“That was why?” He asked aloud, disbelieving. “This is why you argue with me before every mission?”

Soft laughter began to bubble in his throat. It hurt to laugh, but he couldn’t stop. _Trust Kakashi to only share his real feelings when he was injured like this._

“We are so having a real heart-to-heart when you wake up, silly bastard.” He was still laughing weakly when the rescue team arrived.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers apply, and all thoughts are welcome. Any mistakes?


End file.
